Hero Factory: Darklite's Story
by Rock Raider Fan 001
Summary: This is the Hero Factory. Where the bravest, most advanced Heroes in the galaxy are built. Customized with unique weapons and technology, for any mission, no matter where it takes them. When the call goes out, the most powerful force against evil is ready. Including me!
1. Episode One: Pilot Chapter 1 Power Up

"Well everything seems secure, but you never know..." Stormer said, he was on patrol (he drew short straw) and everything was secure. Everything? No. A shadow sweeps across a moonlit hall way. It seemed to be clad in red and blue. It made his way to the blueprint room. He saw the shadow and gave chase but missed it going to the blueprint room. The figure replaced two blueprints and left. It looked back as he ran and saw the silhouette of Stormer. He turned and saw the figure and ran after him and this time he caught him!

"I've got y- huh?" Stormer said puzzled.

"LEMME GO!" shouted the figure.

"Haven't I seen you before kid?" He asked.

"Stormer, is that you?" the kid asked.

"Yeah, what's your name kid?" he asked.

"Dave, sir." he replied.

"Did I see you run out of the blueprint room?" Stormer asked.

"Uhh…" Now Dave was stressed, "Well I, uh…"

"Out with it!" Stormer persisted.

"Would you be mad at me if I said yes?"

Stormer seemed to mull over that for a moment, "Well-l-l…" he began "As long as you didn't steal anything from there you're free to go."

"Thanks sir!" Dave remarked, and ran off.

"That kid," Stormer said, "is a nut!" and he then went off, back on patrol.

"Yes Quadal, I know! I was just gonna check if any new Heroes are gonna be made today," Zib said, "hmm we do have one scheduled for today...and another scheduled for tomorrow."

Zib started up the system and the machine started up and the blueprints went into the computer

"Hey that's weird; I thought we were having a Hero model more recent!" Mark Surge remarked when he looked at Zib's computer.

"SURGE! How _dare _you be so nosey?!" Zib said disapprovingly.

"Sorry, Zib." Surge shrugged.

"Now what was tha- HOLY QUAZA! You're right Surge!" He exclaimed.

"ZIB! How _dare_ you not believe me?!" Surge said imitating Zib

"Oh well, better start then." he said, "If it's in there, it should be made, I haven't seen a 0.5 hero model in years!"

The Assembly Tower booted up and a Dave stood watching from the sidelines.

"I think you'll be one of the best heroes ever made" Dave said.

The smelting area was busy making the parts for the new Hero. Dave appeared and dropped a couple of other, special, parts in. He hacked into the blueprint system and added the final touches with help from a hijacked astro-mechanics droid.

The new Hero was just finished, then he got its first super charge, and his personality came into shape

"THE NEW HERO'S MADE! THE NEW HERO'S MADE!" Surge screamed with excitement.

"Calm down calm down" Natalie Breez said "we can go see him, or her, soon"

The new Hero walked (well stumbled) off the creation platform and tripped

"Ooof! Ow!"

"What's your name?" Surge asked, and then the new Hero's programming kicked in.

"My... Name... is..." he struggled.

"Give him some rest. He just came off the Assembly Tower after all." Breez reasoned.

"No no, I can speak" I protested, "My name's Darklite Slizer!"

TBC


	2. Chapter 2: Hydro Plant

"Oooof!"

Me and my brother Acziome got pushed back by an explosion.

"Take that meddling heroes!" shouted Xplode.

"OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH! WE QUIT!" I shouted.

The training sphere turned off and they stepped off.

"We're not gonna make heroes out of you this way! Get back in there!"  
Stormer scolded.

"No way Jose" Acziome said.

"That was _way_ too intense!" I agreed.

"Ohh fine, you can go. But you have to get more training time in the Training Sphere this afternoon!" Stormer called after them.

"Alright, Stormer!" I said, not really paying attention.

Just then Zib stepped in front of them!

"I have a mission for you!" he said "There has been strange activity at the old hydro-electric plant!"

"But no-one uses that plant anymore! We use crystal power... for our buildings anyway." Acziome said

"I know but I still need you to check it out." Zib said

"Okay! We'll do it!" We both agreed

We got to the Hydro-electric plant in just under an hour. The whole place was as rusty as a 200 year old piece of metal. "Creepy…" was the only thing that came out of our mouths.

"Hmmph! Ermmgh! Ohh, it's no use! The door's stuck fast!" Acziome said.

"Let me try!" I offered. I blasted the door 5 times with my up-scaled Droideka Blaster, but I only left dents!

"Wait, dude, Remember when you slipped on the metal floor and you got charged with blue sparks? You were a lot stronger and faster so if you slide down this concrete wall here you may be able to punch the door open!" Acziome said

I slid down the rough concrete wall and was instantly energized with a new exotic power!

"WAAAOOWWW! CHECK ME OUT PARTNER!" I exclaimed, excitedly, "IF ONLY STORMER COULD SEE ME NOW! YAHOO!"

"Alright you megalomaniac, let's see if you can punch or kick the door down!" Acziome said.

"Huh? Oh yeah, right!"

*CLANG!* *CHUNK!* I kicked the door down and revealed a dark and damp cavernous area! Once again the only thing that came out of our mouths was "Creepy…"

We went in, and they saw a huge network of pipes.

"This place is _big_!" Darklite exclaimed.

"And creepy! I half expect to see a zombie jump out somewhere!"

"Well, a zombie won't, but something else might." I went to a console. "I wonder what button does the lights."  
He pressed one and the lights flicked on, leaving hardly any change.

"Old hydro-electric plants; creepy lighting and rusty pipes our specialty." Acziome quipped.

"Good one." Darklite chuckled.

As they went deeper into the old plant, they had the unsettling sensation of someone watching their every move...


	3. Chapter 3: The Stranger

"Darklite, this place is creeping me out!" Acziome complained.

"Shush!" I sensed some movement, out of the corner of my eye.

"What is it?" Acziome whispered.

"I don't know," I replied, "but I don't think it's friendly."

"Maybe we should split up?" Acziome suggested, "We could cover more ground that way."

"ARE YOU NUTS?!" I screamed, "Splitting up is when," I made a slicing motion with my finger across my neck, "crrriikkk, happens!"

"I thought you wanted me to be quiet!" Acziome said, smugly.

I rolled my eyes. He's always smug like that.

"Yes, I did want you to be quiet, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."

"I told you so!" Acziome taunted

"Quiet!" I hissed, "I heard something…"

…

There was some silence for a couple of minutes…

…

"How good is your hearing?" Acziome whispered.

"Good enough to hear you whispering!" I hissed, giving him a rabbit punch.

"Ow!" Acziome mumbled.

"Shh!"

I saw something that looked a whole lot like eyes up in the pipes… red but, strangely, blue tinted…

"There's something up there…" I said quietly, drawing my modified droideka blaster.

"Uhh, I think I'll check over here…!" Acziome started to walk off; I grabbed him by the fins on his helmet.

"I told you: 'No splitting up'!"

"I'll keep in contact!" He whined.

I let out an exasperated sigh (How did I do that?) "Fine, you can go. But check in every five minutes! FIVE MINUTES!" I called after him.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." He replied, then ran off.

"Rgrgmgblrerggtetg Acziome." I grumbled, he's such a pain sometimes!

I sent my high beams into the ceiling – They're on my chin – and looked for whoever or whatever was in this dump.

"Acziome here." I yelped and jumped a mile high, "Checking in: No sign of life, or energy readings, over."

"Yes, yes. Good, keep looking, over."

"Right, over and out."

"Over and out." I signed off and was immediately tackled.

"AAAUGH!" I screamed startled.

I fought back, to try and tackle the dude down, I succeeded.

"Alright, prepare to be fried!" I pointed my blaster at him, and promptly lowered it.

The dude I defeated was a Hero. Insane, delusional, and violent, but a Hero nonetheless. I could tell because of his Hero Core. I offered my hand. Somewhere in the back of my mind someone told me I was nuts. But he's a Hero, I'm a Hero. We need to stick together. He didn't take it, however. He started to run off, by I grabbed my energy cuffs, not the fancy ones used in the Breakout incident that moved on their own, and flung them at him. They caught him on his wrists, and began to drain his energy.

"AH! AH! AH! AH! AH!" He shouted.

I picked him up and examined him. He seemed very healthy. He was an 0.5 branch too, and he survived for who knows how long here.

"What's your name?"

"_He _said I should never tell."

"Who's he?"

"_He _told me not to tell that, too!"

I slapped him across the face, hopefully that'll knock some sense into the guy.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" I yelled as I slapped him, "Whoever '_he_' is, '_he_' is no longer here."

"Don't say that! _He_ said _he'd_ be back! I don't think _he _wants you to talk about _him _like that."

"WHO IS HE?! TELL ME BEFORE I HURT YOU! I'M TIRED OF THIS HE BUISNESS!"

"Von Nebula." The Hero said.

I wasn't sure I heard right, "Who?"

"Von Nebula."

I suddenly felt faint. (How does that work?!)

"Von Nebula, Von Nebula, ohh Von Nebula! Well, uh, how do I explain this, well he's destroyed."

"Yes, he burned up in that fiery explosion, I saw him. But he said he'd be back."

_Fiery explosion!? _I thought, _that's not what Stormer told me…_

"How long ago was this event?" I asked.

"Two years ago, I've been waiting here since."

"Von Nebula was destroyed two months ago."

"No, two years." He argued.

"I saw him get dismantled and put in jail, well, he wasn't really destroyed, and he was stripped down back to Hero form."

"He was already in Hero form when he blew up."

Okay, this is getting confusing.

"He was already in Hero form…?"

"That's what I said."

"I know, I was mulling it over."

"So you say he's still alive back in his Hero form. I never knew he changed forms."

"I have a picture of him in his villain form." I projected a hologram of Von Nebula.

"Yikes! That was him!?"

"Yup, pretty sobering, huh?"

Abruptly he started crying. (HOW DOES HE DO THAT?!)

"I had no idea all of this had happened! I was totally out of touch! I need help, and updating!"

This was _**THE**_ most awkward moment of my entire life.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4: Mission Complete

All that crying… (Seriously, how does he do that?!) So loud. So wet.

I turned my comm link on, "Darklite here: I've caught the person who was disturbing the scanners. Over."

"Good job! What's all that yelling? Over."

"Oh, that's the person who was disturbing the scanners. He's now disturbing the peace!" I grumbled, my hope that he wouldn't hear him getting crushed.

"Why is he yelling? Doesn't he like being cuffed? Over."

"I took the, you don't have to say over every time you know, I took the cuffs off."

"Why?"

"So his hands could have room to cover his face."

"Why does he need to cover his face?"

"Are you writing a book or something?!"

"Nope."

I sighed (How?!) "He's crying."

"Crying?!"

"Just come over here, I need your help."

"Okay… Over and out."

"Over and out."

I sighed, why is he crying (HOW, MAN, HOW?!) over all of this. He's probably mentally unstable.

"We'll help you out…" I said, feeling more awkward than I ever felt before in my life.

"Thank you." He sniffled, "My name is Jet-air by the way."

"Jet-air?" I asked, pronouncing it asbestos I could.

"Yes *sniff* that's me." Jet-air replied.

"Jet-air…?" I pondered, and then he looked at me funny.

"No, you don't pronounce it Jet-air. You pronounce it Jettair. And its spelt J-E-T-T-E-R-R-E."

"Oh! Jetterre! I've got it now."

"Hey, he's not crying anymore."

"No, you're not. Did you get over it or did you get distracted?"

"I guess I got over it…" Jetterre replied.

"Well, you're still under suspicion… I'll have to put the cuffs back on."

Acziome put the cuffs around his wrists and they took him back to the Hero Factory HQ.

"We've caught him!" Darklite announced.

"Excellent work, Darkli- Jetterre!?" Zib said astonished, "I haven't seen you since… Since you left with Stormer to go on a mission, almost two years ago!"

"Who are you again?" Jetterre asked.

"You don't remember me?" Zib asked.

"Nope, and I never forget a face. But the name that goes with it however… Anyway, I don't remember seeing you either." Jetterre replied.

"Interesting… You were with Stormer when I assigned you the mission."

"I was probably preoccupied with something while you were givin' us the mission. I get bored easily."

"That's the Teen-ager persona at work; Mr Makuro added that in for some variety."

"Did he really?!" I asked, "I thought that was the rebellion from the Hero Factory at work."

"Darks, I'm done with that." Jetterre said, "I kinda like you guys."

"What?!" I asked, shocked, "We captured you, and drained your energy! How can you like us?"

"I'm open minded." He said simply.

I looked off at the other two, confused.

"He's mentally unstable." Zib whispered.

"No kidding." I whispered back.

"Um, *ahem* Jetterre, We might have to attach a temp-core on you… Again…"

"NO! NOT THE TEMP-CORE!" Jetterre protested.

"I know you don't like the temp-core, but we need it to calibrate your personality."

"It makes me feel weird!" he protested, obviously losing the argument.

"I'm sorry but your new friends would have to agree with me, don't you?"

"Uh, what's a temp-core?!" me and Acziome said in unison.

"Moving right along." Zib segued.

I rolled my eyes, and then he got out this huge metal monstrosity, about the size of a pizza box that has been opened to the point where it's flat.

"That's supposed to go on your _**chest**_?!" I exclaimed.

"Well, yes. *Grunt* We have to come up with a lighter one." He said.

"No kidding! How much does that thing weigh?!"

"About 75 pounds." Zib grunted.

"That's supposed to go on your _**chest**_?!" I repeated needlessly.

Now it was Zib's turn to roll his eyes. He attached it over Jetterre's Hero Core, and it began glowing a little.

I stared at it, relieved _I_ wasn't mentally unstable, then I'd have to use it!

Jetterre grimaced, and then walked off.

"Zib, I have a request I would like to make…"

TBC


	5. Episode two: Team Chapter 1: Questions

About a week after we found Jetterre, and when he got his temp-core on, he had nearly finished the sessions with the it, and there was a noticeable change in him: first of all, he's no longer aggressive, secondly, he doesn't smart off- much-, thirdly, he doesn't wander around, looking vacant, and lastly he's now stable enough to be in a Hero team!

*CUE FLASHBACK!*

"Zib, I have a request to make…" I said,

"Sure, Darklite, what is it?" he replied.

"Could Jetterre be on our Hero team?"

"That is a fantastic idea, Darklite! But, he needs to finish 75% of the temp-core sessions before he's considered stable enough to take orders and be cooperative. But when that happens, I'll be happy to assign him to your team… uh, what is it called?"

"Hmm… I know, The Slizers!" I said.

"An excellent team name indeed! Now, I have some work to do, you can go training if you want."

*END FLASHBACK!*

"Hey Jetterre!" I called.

"Hmm?" he responded, he was a bit depressed that week.

"You've finished three quarters of your Temp-core sessions." I told him.

"Yeah, I know." He sighed (I _still_ don't know how we can do it!).

"What's the matter?"

"I miss Von Nebula."

Now, I heard some pretty weird things, but this was the weirdest. And the only time you put "I miss" In front of "Von Nebula" is if you replace "Nebula" with "Ness".

"You _miss_ Von Nebula?" Or if you were asking a question, might I add. But even then…

"I mean I missed him when we were training together," there we are, "I should've said Ness instead of Nebula. He was my best friend"

"Uh huh… Well, I could be your friend, if you like."

Jetterre's eyes widened and his mood lightened up.

"You mean it?!" he asked.

"Of course I mean it! What do you think I am, a loner?!" I said.

"I guess not. You hang out with your brother a lot." Jetterre said.

"You betcha! And not only will I be your best friend, you'll also be on my Hero team!"

Now his eyes widened once again, now to the point of large pancakes.

"What's it called?" He asked.

"The Slizers!" I said putting on a cool voice.

"Awesome! Although, I'm not a Slizer…"

"You don't have to be a Slizer to join up with The Slizers. That's discriminatory!"

"Discrimina-wha?"

"Discrimination means you leave someone out of something, or hurt someone because they're a certain race, gender, or in your case, not part of a certain family."

"Oh, I get it." I believed him; I'm real good at explaining things.

"Well, you've got a couple days to go before you can get that leaden pizza box off your chest. But you can still join us, since you've finished 75% of your Temp-core sessions."

"I've actually gotten used to the added weight, but only a little. I can't wait for this thing to come off soon, and get to some training sessions that are actually fun."

"I know what you mean, but I just learnt that VR Training Spheres aren't the only way to have fun in a virtual environment."

"Really?"

"Really really! What I learned about is a rather simple yet complex system called video games. Zib bought me a console for my first successful mission party."

"I thought you had a successful mission before?"

"Well, technically I didn't fill the mission's criteria. My instructions were to capture the _criminal_ and _bring him to justice_. I technically didn't do either of those, as you weren't a criminal, just an insane dude who was waiting for a friend of his, and I didn't bring to justice, as you were guilty of nothing but rebellion, which you had remorse for." I explained.

"Ah, I see." Jetterre nodded in understanding.

"So anyway, would you like to play with me?"

"Sure! I'd love to."

After five hours of playing the TV flickered and Zib was on screen telling us of an important mission, interrupting our game in the process.

"What is it now, Zib?!" I asked, annoyed, "Some bank being robbed?"

I didn't expect his answer,

"As a matter of fact, yes, we'll sort of. It's actually an art museum, but you're almost right." Zib said, astonished at my lucky guess.

We looked at each other, and shrugged.

"We had intercepted a robbery in progress on New Stellac City: it appears another drone is making a distraction." Zib informed us.

"New Stellac? Isn't that were Von Ness turned to Von Nebula?" I asked, for confirmation.

"Absolutely right, Darklite! Now, since Acziome is getting some on the job training, I'll have to send you, Furno, and Jetterre, despite him not completing all his Temp-core sessions."

"Woo! I get to work with Furno!" I cheered.

"Yes that's right; I know you're becoming friends, so I arranged Furno to join you."

"Thank you, Zib." I said, expressing my appreciation the only way I knew how.

"You're very welcome, Darklite." Zib replied.

"So then, what are we waiting for? Next fall?!" Jetterre said, "Let's go to New Stellac City, and kick some drone butt!" Jetterre said, enthusiastically, he might've been getting a little bit of cabin fever, too.

"Yeah! Warm up the dropship, Zib! We're gettin' outta here!" I said, fist bumping Jetterre, some of those blue spark thingies flying off. Zib noticed.

"In case you're wondering about those blue sparks, they're called Static Charge." Zib said, informatively

"As in static electricity? Like when you rub your shoes on a carpet and touch something metal, or the static cling of wool after a day in the dryer?"

"Not exactly, Darklite." He said, even though he meant I was completely wrong, "Static Charge is a fairly new element. It resides in objects that don't move or that are static, hence its name. It's a powerful energy source, and it can do many things. Your creator, Dave, added Static Manipulators into your system, that's why you were strong enough to kick that door down, when your Droideka blaster could not."

"Dave… I never heard that name before, but it feels like I've known him all my life." I said, half to myself.

"Well, he did make your blue prints. And he did his research too. He determined that 0.5 models, although mentally unstable, are the second sturdiest model in Hero Factory history."

"Then why fix it if it ain't broke?" I asked.

"Good question, a question to which I do not know the answer. You'll have to ask Akiyama Makuro that."

"Another question, Zib," I started, "If Dave Skywalker knew that 0.5 Heroes were mentally unstable, why did he choose us to be 0.5?"

"Um, Darklite… How did you know that boy's last name?"

My eyes widened in shock, "Y-you didn't tell me?" I asked.

"No… It seems this is a mystery that's getting thicker and thicker… Completely Stable 0.5 Heroes, Static Manipulators that were never part of the blue prints, yet the computer knew where to put them, and now you know your designer's last name, even though I never told you."

"Well, even if I do know his last name, what difference does it make? I was built, and I am working. He might've made some adjustments to the- _my _brain or added his own."

"Darklite," Zib said, putting on a serious tone, "No individual person is smart enough to design a working Hero brain, let alone design and build one!"

"Maybe he fixed it then, found the buggy code that made it not work properly." I suggested.

"It is implausible, but not unlikely. Maybe he has a friend, or a family member that knows his way around coding."

"Perhaps… but this conversation is getting us nowhere. Every minute spent chatting about the mystery of my existence is another minute wasted where we could be stopping that robbery."

"You're quite right, Darklite. Furno just finished getting charged and he's on his way to the dropship, and he'll be there by the time you get down. I wish you the two of you luck."

"Hey! What about Furno?" I asked.

"I already wished him luck." Zib said, smiling.

"Alright, let's go!" Jetterre said, grabbing his laser katana and charging out the door.

But the question still remained: Who was this guy who built me, and how did I know his last name when no-one ever told me? That question would have to wait until later; we have a mission to do.


	6. Chapter 2: Drones and art thieves

"We're nearly there." Furno said, needlessly. We could see Traeris up ahead (Traeris is the planet where New Stellac is located).

"Oh really?! I couldn't tell!" Jetterre said, expressing what I was thinking. He was given a fist bump by Surge, who insisted he tag along.

"Yeah, yeah… Very funny!" Furno said, obviously not laughing, "Why do you have to be so sarcastic?" That deserved a fist bump from me.

Jetterre just shrugged.

"Okay, guys, we're gonna have to work as a team on this, so I suggest a divide and conquer strategy." I said, "I think that me and Furno should tackle the drone, while you and Jetterre try and stop the robbery. There's four of us now, and we're stronger than 1.0's. WE CAN DO THIS!" I said, giving a mission strategy, a reason why we'll succeed and a pep talk all at once.

"YEAH! We can do this!" Jetterre said.

"I admire his enthusiasm." Furno commented.

"You should feel how pumped up _I _am!" I said, smiling, "How 'bout I take us down?"

"Hmm…. You need more time to train." Furno said.

"What and you _don't_?" I said, joking about his less than adequate piloting skills.

"Hey! I brought us this far, didn't I?" he said, catching on to the fact I was kidding.

"Ha-ha! What about us coming out of hyperspace in front of that satellite?"

"That…was a miscalculation… We survived didn't we?"

"Barely!"

"Okay, enough with that, you jokers! We gotta get down there." Surge said.

I sneaked one more joke out. "Well, you'd make no air force pilot!"

Furno smirked, and handed me the controls.

Let's just say I won't make the air force either.

We stepped out near the park, and lo and behold, a S1L-V3R Assault Mecha stood out on the outer edge of the park!

"Man, that thing is huge!" Jetterre whispered, after giving an astonished whistle. (Now, I actually _know_ how we can do that!)

"No kidding, it looks larger in real life than on the archive footage." Furno whispered back, just as astonished.

"You still need to show me that move Stormer did." I said.

"When we get home." He said.

"Right, Jetterre, Surge, go check out the robbery, we'll take care of the drone." I said, assuming command.

"Hey, who put you in charge?!" Jetterre protested.

"Uhh…" I started.

"I did." Furno interrupted.

"Oh, well, alright then. See ya back here in… say 30 minutes?" Jetterre said, extremely optimistic.

"Well, if you got the dude, or dudes, by then, alright. We won't be done with the drone in half an hour." I said, being a bit more realistic.

"Right, see you in half!" Jetterre called back.

"Hopefully not cut in half." I muttered, looking at the hulking metallic mass of that drone, "Think we can handle it?" I asked.

"Hey! Stormer did it by himself, and that was when he was a 1.0! We're 4.0's now."

"Except me, I'm just an 0.5."

"Hey, cheer up. I'm sure there will be an update when you can be upgraded too."

"Yeah, but who knows when that'll be… Well, in any case, 0.5's are the sturdiest, second only to 2.0's and beyond!"

"That's right, Darklite. Let's go!"

"So what's the plan?" Surge asked.

"*Sigh* I already told you: We go in, get the robbers, and get out! Get it?" Jetterre said, for the umpteenth time.

"Got it!"

"Good. Look around the statue chamber for clues, Surge. I'll look in the art gallery."

"Right." Surge ran off, and left Jetterre alone.

"Ugh, how can people appreciate this modern art? It doesn't even make sense! It's just a bunch of squiggles and lines!" he said, staring at a rather vague blue and orange painting, "A six year old could do better than this! I'll never understand the artists mind."

While Jetterre was distracted by the paintings, acting the critic, Surge was doing his job right, and looking on the ground, and on the walls and statues for any clues.

"Hmm, boots, zigzag tread, rubber soles. Interesting, a human did this!" Surge exclaimed, "That's one mystery solved. And… a spent laser cartridge for a blaster, similar to the one we use.

"A thread, from a denim jacket, I'd love to wear one of those, and…" Surge never finished his sentence, however, because when he heard a clicking sound, he froze.

"That's enough snooping around, Hero!" a male voice said from behind him.

"Back again, Jack?" Surge asked, "You're the same guy Stormer brought in for questioning. I never believed you or your lawyer!"

"Well, it doesn't matter, 'cause this place has a better haul that the Louvre itself! I'm gonna filthy, stinkin' rich!" he said.

"That is, if you make it out." Surge said, "Free, at least."

"I'm gonna get outta here, right now!"

"Hey, Surge, have you found anythi-" Jetterre paused from shock, "Uhh, setting phasers to stun." He blasted him with a stun pulse from his Hero-Blaster. The blue ring of energy hit the art thief square in the chest.

"Thanks, Jett. Couldn't have done it without you." Surge said.

"No problémo!" Jetterre said, "Like the nick-name, too."

"By the way, we took 25 minutes, so we have an extra five to get back to the park." Surge said, "The easy part is over, we have to take care of that drone next."

"Yeah, it was a little too easy, for my liking though."

"Hey, you were just at the right place at the right time!" Surge assured him, "It's not a trap. I had no idea you'd show up. I thought I'd be a dead 'bot!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. C'mon, we gotta help Furno and Darklite!"

I barely missed getting fried by a plutonium-cryptide canister. My hand got caught in the blast, so that got fried. I stared at my useless hand, with green mist rising off it, sparks flying, and some rainbow discoloration across my palm.

"Furno, I got hit!" I said when I finally came to my senses.

"Where?"

"My hand got caught in the blast, it's useless now!"

"Which is your dominant one?"

"Right, I got irradiated on the left one!"

"I'll get those wires cut up for you. Get behind the statue."

I did so, and Furno came rushing towards me. I saw the drone fire one of its canisters, with its laser sight directly in Furno's path. A blue and white streak jumped out and caught him from being irradiated, and shutting down. It was Surge! He'd made it! And Jetterre was blasting at the drone at close quarters.

"Thanks, Surge. You saved my life!"

"No problem, Furno, but it wasn't the first time, nor will it be the last."

"What about my life?" I asked, pseudo-calmly, the green mist traveling slowly across the wiring.

"Oh, yeah, hang on." Furno took the plating off my hand, exposing the bones and wiring, he cut a few wires, but when he reached the input wire, he was confused.

"Heroes hands, and other appendages for that matter, can atrophy when disconnected, so I don't know what to do here." Furno said, puzzled.

"Hey! *Oof* I can help!" Jetterre said, in between fighting the drone.

"Well, I'll relieve you, then." Furno said.

"Thanks, I needed that." He said, slapping Furno a high-five.

"I got irradiated on my left hand." I explained.

"From one of those Plutonium-Cryptide canisters? Those things should be illegalized."

"And what good would that do? They'd just make a bigger problem."

"True. Ah well, let's have a look at that hand. Dr. Jetterre is in the house!"

I chuckled. Leave it to Jetterre to lighten a dark moment.

After several minutes of fiddling with the input wire, he finally jury-rigged a filtering system, made out of, none other than, a piece of canister, lying on the ground. Oh, the irony.

"There!" Jetterre said, in triumph, "That should do as a temporary fix until we get back to base. Unfortunately, you can't use that hand until it's fixed properly."

"Kinda figured, as the power cable's been cut." I said.

"But since your brain is still transmitting signals to your hand, you shouldn't lose it."

"That's always good." I said.

"Indeed, now Surge, will you help me, help Furno fight that metallic monstrosity?"

"You betcha! We'll be right back, Darklite."

I waved them goodbye with my good hand. I stared at my other one.

_Wait 'till Acziome hears about this!_ I thought to myself, _He'd go nuts!_

I decided to take a nap, to conserve energy, as the radiation drained a lot of it when it was chewing at the power cable. But it can travel up any wire. So there was the danger of it actually reaching my Hero Core and sucking the power out of that.

When I woke up, I was in the HF-ICU staring directly at the bright lamp above my head.

"Wh-what's going on? Where am I? How long have I been sleeping for?" I asked, totally confused, "And," I added, "Did we finish the mission?"

"To answer all your questions, one, your power was severely drained by the radiation, two you're in HF-ICU, three, you've been asleep for twelve hours-"

"TWELVE HOURS?! I've been asleep for _**twelve hours?!**_"

"Well, yes, your power was severely drained, so you stayed asleep to conserve energy. And as I was saying, four we did finish the mission."

"Oh, who are you, then?"

"Surge. Some of the radiation got past the filter and drained some of your energy, so Jetterre jury-rigged a negative ion emitter out of a Meteor Blaster, and the negative ions are attracted specifically to the positive ones in the leftover radiation. It made it degrade faster and completely wiped it out of your system. You're gonna have to get recharged now, too."

I groaned. I hate the conductive gel in the recharge bay. It sticks to my armor, and chafes for like the whole day. But it gets me cleaned up, so it's a good thing.

"One thing, before I get recharged, Surge."

"What's that, Darklite?" he asked.

"Can I get a towel?"


	7. Chapter 3: Stardom and Danger

**A/N**: **I changed a couple of things around in the Hero Factory storyline, firstly, Daniela Capricorn is a human, and secondly she got promoted to have her own Talk show. And the citizens of Makuhero are a mix of humans, non-humans and androids/robots. Enjoy!**

A few days have passed since the New Stellac mission, and since then we became instant celebrities!

To be honest, it's not all it's cracked up to be. We keep getting asked for autographs, and I was the only one who was involved in the New Stellac mission, and I didn't even take out the drone! And that was just the other Heroes. I also got invited to be interviewed by Daniela Capricorn. Oh joy(!)

Me and Acziome were walking down an elevated hallway, when we bumped into someone.

"Oh! Hey! You must be Darklite and Acziome! Pleased to meet you! My name's Rocka, Daniel Rocka!"

"Oh, hey, Rocka. Pleased to meet you, too." I said, amazed at his energetic attitude.

"You guys destroyed that drone, right?" he asked.

"Well, for one thing, it was only Darklite who was there,"

"Secondly," I continued, "I took a nap while Furno and Jetterre did the rest. I was irradiated, remember?"

"Thirdly, they only disabled it. Darklite suggested that so the scientists could research it. It's getting delivered as we speak." Acziome added.

"Yeah, yeah, what was the drone like?" he asked, not listening to our explanation.

"It was big, and covered in armor. And it had these cannons with red tubes, filled with depleted plutonium." I said.

"With a cryptide blasting agent." Acziome added.

"That's right."

"Cool! I can't wait to see it! When will it be delivered?"

"In an hour or so, we couldn't fit it on the dropship. But it'll be kept under wraps."

"Oh. That's too bad." He said, with a noticeable change in his demeanor, "Ah well, look at the bright side! At least the villains can't get a hold of it! I'll promise not to blab to anyone that the drone is here!"

"Oh, almost everyone knows about it. Except for the dudes in the containment unit." I said.

"Which is understandable." Acziome added.

"That's right! See ya guys!" Rocka said, and sprinted off.

"Can you believe that guy?!" I said, "He's bubblier than Coke when it's all shook up."

"You're tellin' me!"

Just then we bumped into one of the local weapons experts.

"Oh, you're Evo, right? Nathan Evo?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's right. I heard you caught the dude who robbed the art museum, and the drone, on top of that. Stormer'll be infuriated, and mortified."

"Oh dear, I hope he doesn't hate us for this…" I said.

"He shouldn't but he has a lot of pride. You'd probably have to avoid him for the next few days."

"That's what we do, anyway." Acziome said. I gave him a fist bump.

"Ha! Ha! Well, you'd have no trouble with that then. See ya, 'round."

"Oh! By the way, it wasn't me who caught the guy, or the drone."

"Okay, see ya later." He said, not listening either.

"Why doesn't anyone listen to us!?" I asked, annoyed.

"Search me! Being famous, plus Chinese whispers would do that to you."

"Maybe they think I'm being modest. But I'm telling the truth."

"That's a possibility, but maybe they're overreacting, too. But congrats on getting invited to an interview with Daniela!"

"It's not a big deal, Acz, It's just an interview."

"Just an interview?! Dude, Daniela Capricorn is the Oprah Winfrey of Makuhero City!"

"So?"

"So it's a privilege, nay, an _honor_ to be invited on her talk show!"

"I still don't get why people are reacting this way. Now you're doing it. I thought you were on my side!"

"Oh, I didn't know you felt that way. I'm sorry."

"it's okay, Acz."

Acziome smiled.

"Well, I'm gonna take a nap, maybe get my Hero Core charged. See ya, Darklite!"

Acziome also just got back from his on the job training. That mission was very draining, apparently.

"Have a good sleep Acz!" I called after him.

I continued down the hall, even though I completely forgot where I was going and what I was going to do there, then I saw Stormer. I tried to avoid him, but he caught me.

"Hey, kid!" he called.

I groaned, "Yes?" I called back.

"Come here a sec."

Who am I to disobey him? I reluctantly went over.

We stared at each other in awkward silence for around 30 seconds. Then he said,

"Congratulations on getting that drone, and catching Jack." He said, and stuck out his hand.

"Uhh, thanks," I said, shaking Stormer's hand, "That m-means a lot to me. You're not sore or anything..?"

"No, I'm being a good sport, and giving you what you deserve. No hard feelings, then?"

"About what?"

"The way I treated you two when you were fresh off the assembly tower."

"Oh, yeah. Sure, no hard feelings." I said, feeling a little less uncomfortable. "It wasn't me who did all that stuff, though."

For once, someone actually listened.

"Yes, I know. But you participated in the mission, and that's good enough for me."

"Really? Thanks. That means a lot too, a lot of people have gotten the wrong impression; like I was the one who single handedly caught Jack, and disabled the drone."

"Now, I know that's the case, but people think you're being either modest or having false modesty."

"We've gone over that. We've even considered the possibility of Chinese whispers."

"That's another theory. Despite all this, you've gotten pretty famous. I hear Daniela Capricorn wants to interview you."

"Ugh, don't remind me. It's today, too."

"You're seriously not into the being famous thing, aren't you?"

"No. No, I'm not."

"That's interesting. Because most rookies your age would kill to be famous in this short a time."

"I can believe it. Did you think we were some arrogant hot-shots that wanted everything their way, when we were first made?"

"Yes, I did. That's a reason why I trained you so hard."

"So you could give us a taste of what it's actually like to go out in the field? That makes sense."

"But I can see that you're not in it for the glory. What are you in it for?"

Not sure, but I, for one, want answers."

"Answers to what?"

"My creation."

"You know what? The night before your creation a kid was sneaking around here. He went into the blueprint room."

"Did you get his name?"

"Yes. Dave."

Three hours later, a limousine dropped by to pick me up.

"Talk about over doing it." I muttered, stepping into the limo.

"We'll be at the studio in half an hour, Mr. Slizer." The chauffeur said.

"Call me Darklite." I told him, "'Mr.' is too formal for me."

"Oh, okay then." He said, and the limo started off down the street.

"If you want to entertain yourself, there's Wi-Fi and satellite TV access in here."

"As if I didn't know already." I muttered, recalling the big satellite dish on top of the car.

I decided I'd watch my favorite YouTube series. I put on the headphones in the pouch on the seat in front of me. I booted up the computer embedded somewhere in the limo, and turned on Firefox.

During the 30 minute car trip, I'd caught up with the series and got to wait another week before another video was uploaded, like the rest of the population. I could finally delete those eMails I got announcing they had a new video up.

"We're here." The chauffeur said, as we pulled into the studio driveway.

"Uh huh." I said absent mindedly.

The chauffeur opened my door, and led me into the studio. It was busy. There were people hauling camera equipment around, people up to their necks in wires and cords, a dude carrying some sound equipment, and a catering guy.

"The set for Daniela's talk show is this way." The chauffeur said, as he led me down the hall way.

At first, I didn't know how tall I was compered to humans, but I kinda didn't think about it with the Heroes, as we were to consider ourselves equal to each other, but I found out I was the size of a guy in his early teens. Around 4' 6"/ 5' tall. I felt tiny.

We neared the door to the set of Daniela's talk show, called Chitchat with Daniela.

"What kind of a name is that?" I muttered.

"Alright, people, we're live in five minutes!" I heard someone say, when I walked in.

"Oh hello, Darklite. I'm glad you came."

"Hi, Ms. Capricorn." I said not knowing what her preference for names was.

"Call me Daniela." She then clapped her hands, "Makeup for Mr. Darklite!"

"Wha- makeup? I-" I didn't get a chance to protest, as the makeup woman came and socked me in the jaw with a powder-puff.

"*Cough! Cough! Cough!* I think I *Wheeze!* got *Hack!* talcum powder in my system! *Cough! Cough! Wheeze!*"

"We're live in three minutes!" The guy I heard from earlier said.

"Uh, Daniela, I don't need makeup. My skin is supposed to shine."

"But that's- oh right. You Heroes are so human. I got mixed up." She said, smiling.

"Uh, thanks?" I said uncertain.

"Oh, that is a compliment, by the way."

"In that case, thank you very much!" I said, smiling back.

"We're live in 30 seconds!"

"Okay, everyone, to your positions!" The director said.

I sat down in the nearest chair.

"No, no, Darklite, you go in that chair." Daniela said, pointing to the one next to it.

"Oh, sorry." I swapped chairs with Daniela, and then the guy did the count down.

"We're live in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…" a bell rang , the cameras pointed to our direction, and the "ON AIR" light lit up.

The show's jingle played and Daniela spoke.

"Hello, and welcome back to Chitchat with Daniela. We now have a very special guest, new kid on the block and hero of New Stellac, Darklite Slizer!"

The live studio audience applauded and then the cameras zoomed out to include me and Daniela in the picture.

"Welcome to the show, Darklite! How do you feel?"

"A little dizzy." I said, the audience laughed.

"How does it feel to be New Stellac's hero?" she asked.

"To clarify, I'm not the one who took out the drone, I just took a nap when it happened."

The audience "Oooh'd".

"Is that so? Why did you take a nap, then?"

"One of the Plutonium-Cryptide canisters exploded near me, and got my left hand irradiated," I put my left hand up for effect, "The plating on my palm got discolored with a similar look to gasoline on water, a diluted rainbow, and green mist rose off it."

"Fascinating! So you're not the one who took out the drone?"

"100% correct, Ma'am. Furno tried to cut my arm off to my Hero Core, but he got stuck at the command input wire."

"Why did he get stuck there?"

"Because Heroes appendages can atrophy." I said.

The audience gasped.

"Why does that happen?"

"Not sure about all the specifics, but if there are no signals to an appendage, the brain can think it's not there, so it cuts off all commands to it. You need to reprogram the brain so it can send commands to it again, but it's really difficult and time consuming. And also, radiation is attracted to energy, and it can drain it. That's why I took a nap."

"Thanks for the explanation. Anything to comment on the hydro-electric plant incident? I know you and your brother were directly involved."

"Yes actually. I'd like to make a shout-out to my newest team member, Jetterre. He's the one that the scanners picked up on. He was a rouge Hero, but I got him to rejoin. And he's now part of my team."

"Wow, what a good story. Are you going to have anyone else on your team?"

"Well, it's still a bit early to determine something like that as of now, but I'd certainly like to."

"That's good. Who are you thinking of to be in your team?"

"That's also too early to determine, Daniela."

"I figured. What are your plans for the future?"

"Well, I'd like to be successful in my job, I'm not in it for money, I'm not in it for glory, I'm not in it for the talk shows," I winked at Daniela, "I'm in it for the fun of it, and the greater good. I'm in it to make a difference."

"How noble of you, Darklite. I admire that in a Hero, not wanting or needing fame. But to do what's right."

"Why, thank you Daniela." I said, smiling.

"Well, I hope to see you again soon on Chitchat with Daniela. Thank you for coming, Darklite"

"It's unlikely, but despite what I thought of it earlier, I actually enjoyed being on here. Thank you for inviting me, Daniela."

The jingle played again, the audience applauded, the camera zoomed out even more, and the lights faded.

"We're off the air!" the guy said again.

"Did you mean what you said about me being noble, and admiring for my not needing fame?" I asked.

"Of course I meant it! A lot of Heroes I interview get it into their head that they're celebrities. You are my favorite Hero, Darklite, because of your humility."

That touched my heart.

"Thank you, Daniela. I also meant it when I said I enjoyed it on here."

"I'm sure you did. The Chauffeur is ready to take you back home when you're ready."

"Alright then. See ya on the airwaves, Daniela!" I said, waving her goodbye.

When I got back Acziome and Jetterre were at the door to great me.

"How was it?"

"I actually had a good time!"

"Wow! I never thought you'd change your tune about it."

"Daniela's not just acting; she really meant the things she said!"

"Wow, that's cool!"

"I know, right!? Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving!"

"We can eat?"

"We process it into carbon, and suck the energy out of that. And we can taste."

"Right."

"What do you want?"

They looked at each other and said in unison, "Pizza!"

"Right, pizza it is then! C'mon, I'm buying."

At the pizza place, Jetterre and Acziome asked me how the talk show was.

"Like I said, I had a good time. It had a live studio audience and stuff like that."

"What was Daniela like?"

"She is actually pretty nice, and honest. Not the short tempered news reporter she used to be. She seems happier now that she's at her dream job."

"Hey, she probably _is_ happier now that she's at her dream job!" Acziome said.

"Ha! Ha! Yeah! You're right!"

"So how large was the audience?"

"Oh, I don't know the exact figures, but I'd say around 100-200. Maybe 250." I said.

"Wow, not that large. Did they use pre-recorded audience sounds, or did the audience actually do those sounds?"

"They actually did them, I saw them applaud myself."

"Wow, no budget cuts then."

"Nope, actual audience. I think ten bucks per segment." I said, and munched on a slice of pizza.

"They get paid?" Jetterre asked.

"Sure. Why wouldn't they? It is show _business _after all." I said.

"That makes sense, Darks." Jetterre replied.

"Glad I could help you comprehend." I said.

"What?"

"Comprehension means you understand what I told you about."

"Speak English, Darks." He said, and sipped his Coke.

I looked at Acziome; he was chuckling behind a menu. I rolled my eyes.

Then my Hero Pad lit up.

"Shoot, Zib." I said when I turned it on.

"The Alpha team have been called to a mission on Trantor*** **a few hours ago. We lost contact with them three minutes ago; we need you to go there, find them, and assist them on their mission."

"Okay, Zib, we'll just finish our pizza real quick and come back."

"There's no time! Every second spent eating is seconds wasted for finding them. You'll have to doggy-bag your pizza."

"But, there's only one piece left." I said.

"Well in that case, there is time, but get over to the Launch Bay as soon as you're done." Zib said.

"Thanks, Zib." I said, and signed off. I stuffed the pizza in my mouth, "Let'f, get going!" I said, with my mouth full.

TBC

***Authors footnote: Trantor is the final Level in the SNES game Vortex. I only used the planet, so it's not a crossover**


	8. Chapter 4: Aerotropolis

We ran back to the Hero Factory HQ as fast as we could. We weren't properly equipped, that's a reason why. Plus we needed a bigger team. A team of three just won't cut it.

"We're back, Zib." I said.

"Why aren't you in the hanger?!" Zib asked us.

"We aren't prepared." I said, "We need a bigger team, and proper equipment."

"Darklite, you are wise beyond your years. I didn't even think of that. But you are right; you do need a bigger team, and proper equipment." Zib said, and led us to the Armory.

"In a city like Trantor's capital, jetpacks are required." He said, handing us some.

"Also, there are a lot of civilians in cities, so blasters are generally frowned upon. But if you use them wisely, it's okay. But, guided missiles are a good idea, as you can steer them in any direction you need." He said, handing us some Laser Guided RPGs.

"And your armor, well, nothing I can do there. I could refit you, if you were a 2.0 or above, but our Assembly Tower doesn't support refits for 0.5s. Just take care of yourselves. I'll get your team ready."

He led us back out into the Mission Center, and paged Furno, Surge, Rocka, and Breez.

Three minutes later, after we were briefed, we were ready.

I felt a surge of adrenaline, if that was possible, coarse through my body, as we boarded the Dropship. But I was also afraid.

_A Hero should show no fear, and fear nothing._ I thought, _Then why am I afraid now?_

We got into space, and found our designated hyperdrive ring. We attached it to the Dropship, and set the coordinates to Trantor. No turning back now.

A few hours later, we arrived. Trantor, almost all blue. Except for a bit of small tan and green dots scattered around.

"This is Natalie Breez, requesting permission to land at the Aerotropolis Landing Platform."

"_Permission granted, Natalie Breez. A cloud-car will escort you to your designated landing site._" The control officer said.

"With all due respect, we don't need an escort. We need to land as fast as possible." Breez replied.

"_Why all the urgency?_" the control officer asked.

"To be honest, it's none of your business." I said, before Breez could open her mouth.

"Ooh, busted!" Jetterre said.

Breez shot me a look of disapproval, but I thought I saw the corners of her mouth twitching behind her helmet.

"_Who's the smart-mouth?_" The control officer asked.

"Darklite Slizer." I said, "I'm, uh, new."

"_Well, Mister Slizer, you're right._"

Breez's eyes all but popped out of her head.

"_It is none of my business, but curiosity got the better of me. If it makes you feel better, I'm new too._"

"Yeah, it sure does." I said

"Do we have permission to land?" Breez asked.

"_Affirmative, and I told the others that you don't need an escort, so I'll assume you'll know where to find it._"

"You assume correctly." Breez said, "I've been here before."

"_Well, good luck._" The control officer said, and then signed off.

"That was a nice thing to say." I commented.

"Did you _really_ have to say that?" Breez asked.

"Say what?"

"That it was none of his business."

"I suppose not, but I'm feeling a bit… a bit scared."

"Scared?" Breez said, "Why?"

"Well I-" I started to say, then the Dropship lurched. We were in the gravity field

"Hold that thought, I need to take over."

Trantor is in essence, an eternal ocean; with only a few islands dotted here and there, with the largest one being only 250,000 square kilometers in size. And on some of those islands are cities. There are surface cities, like any ordinary one, and there are stilt cities, cities on large pylons that are high in the air. But Trantor's capital, Aerotropolis, isn't like any of those other cities. It's a sickly situated super city stuck strategically in the stratosphere. Yes, it's a city on repulsorlifts. It's located out in the middle of nowhere, in the expanse of ocean. Now, I'm generally not afraid of heights, nor falling from them. It's just the fact Aerotropolis is located over a big body of water that freaks me out. There are hand rails, and very high walls. But when I look over the edge, it makes me want to throw up. But when I'm not, Aerotropolis is just like any ordinary city, in my book. It even has the occasional power outage, but does it get lost beneath the waves? No. The repulsorlifts have their own power source: Energy crystals. Powerful ones at that. They only need to change them once every fifty years. So in other words, they haven't needed to yet. Energy crystals of this power have only been discovered ten years ago.

But the landing platform wasn't protected by all those safeguards, as I found out.

"Darklite, Surge, you guard the Dropship, me and Breez will go looking for Stormer and the others, and Jetterre, Rocka, and Acziome can split up and scout out the city." Furno said.

"Cool, we get to go sightseeing!" Jetterre said.

"Keep in mind Jetterre, you're not just here for fun and games, they've been called here for a reason. And I want us to find that reason." Furno said.

"Then why leave us here with the ship?" I asked.

"They might come looking for it, to destroy it or to take it away, or to get away themselves. I don't want that to happen."

"Sure, you can count on us, Furno." Surge said.

"Yeah… you sure can." I said, uncertainly.

"Right, we'll be back soon. Hopefully. Good luck, all!" he said, and then he and Breez jetted away. A couple minutes later, Acziome, Jetterre, and Rocka did the same.

"Well, it's just us now. On a precarious platform… above the ocean…" I said, my teeth chattering.

"Oh, don't tell me you're afraid of heights!" Surge said, "Just keep calm, and away from the edge. In fact, go inside. I can look after things by myself."

"Thanks, Surge."

"No problémo!"

I went inside and lay down on the padded bench. I made sure my jetpack was securely fastened, and checked its power level.

"100%. Good, I'll need it."

All was quiet for about two hours, then the familiar humming of the repulsorlifts stopped. We then abruptly tipped over sideways. I rushed out of the Dropship, cloud-cars sliding off the metal platform and dropping into the ocean below. Surge didn't have his jetpack. I ran back in and grabbed it, but by then, the platform was at a 45 degree angle, and the Dropship started sliding off too! I activated my jetpack, and flew out as the Dropship plunged into the ocean. Surge was holding on to the small indentations on the platform, but his fingers couldn't grip much longer. I grabbed him in the harness of his jetpack and boosted up to the road next to where the platform used to be. With the strength of the support struts at their limit, they snapped, letting the platform fall into the ocean. The splash was enormous! I imagined that the platform shattered upon impact.

"Thanks, Darklite. You saved my life."

"D-d-don't m-m-m-mention it." I said, scared out of my wits.

"Come on, Darklite," He said, putting his arm around my shoulder, "Let's just go into the city. Then we can check in with Furno."

"Yes, let's get outta here!" I said.

We walked into the city, and pedestrians were everywhere.

"Think that whoever Stormer and company are looking for did that?" Surge asked.

"Sure do." I said.

"Think we should join one of the parties? You know, Acziome, Jetterre, Rocka, Furno and Breez?" he asked.

"No, I think we should do it ourselves."

"Alright then. Why?"

"I dunno, I just do. I think it has to do that we'll have each other's back in a fight."

"That's actually a good idea."

"One question, Surge."

"What's that?"

"How good are your Parkour skills?"

"Umm, pretty good, I guess. Room for improvement."

"Well then, I hope you can keep up!" I said, and sprinted off.

"Hey, hey wait!" Surge said, and sprinted after me.

TBC


	9. Chapter 5: Aerotropolis - Part 2

We sprinted a few kilometers, I didn't know where we were going, nor did I think we were going in the right direction, but when you're searching for someone in a city this size, any direction is as good as another.

"Stop, we forgot to check in with Furno." Surge said, but I also thought that he was also tired.

"Oh yeah."

Surge got out his Hero Pad, and contacted Furno.

"_What's up, Surge?_" Furno asked.

"Well…" he started, "The repulsorlifts on the platform got… shut down, and, uh, we… had to get out of there."

"_What?! Did you see who did that?"_

"Well, uh, no, but-"

"_Do you realize that you could've caught them!?_"

"No! We didn't, but-"

"_Grr! Just, meet me and Breez at the town square. You can join us from there._" Furno said, and signed off.

"Surge out." He said, annoyed, "Never seen him like that before."

"He must spend too much time around Stormer." I joked.

"Ha! Ha! Yeah that might be right. So what should we do?"

"We go to the town square."

"You're giving up this easily?"

"_And_… Keep on going."

"But- but that's disobeying a direct order!"

"Yes, but I have an idea. And I don't want to be interrupted. Come on, let's go." I said, running off.

"You're very unorthodox, Darklite." Surge said.

"Thank you." I called back.

"Lead the way." Surge muttered.

We ran to the town square, and Furno and Breez were waiting for us near a statue.

"Where are they?! They should've been here by now." Furno said, tapping his foot impatiently.

"C'mon, Furno, lighten up." Breez said, "Just because Darklite is new, doesn't mean you can boss him around, plus he's your friend."

"Yeah, I'm just stressed. I want to get Stormer back home safely."

"Wow, that's very noble of you."

"Yeah, I also owe him a favor. He saved me once, so I'll save him. Then we'll be even."

"Uh huh." Breez said, thinking about what Furno said, "Look, here they come."

"Ugh, it's about time they got here." Furno muttered.

"Hey you two!" Breez called, "Furno's been getting a little annoyed while you were coming here."

"Sorry, can't stay and chat, we gotta go." I called.

"Wait, wha- they're not stopping!" Furno said, "Hey! Get back here!" he yelled, sprinting after us.

He outran us, and stepped in front of us.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Furno said, in a commanding voice.

"It was his idea!" Surge said, pointing at me, "Not mine!"

"I don't care whose idea it was, I want to know, why you disobeyed a direct order."

"Dude, lighten up!" I said. Furno glared at me, "I thought we were friends."

Furno was silent.

"Look, if you're not gonna say anything, we're leaving. This is a waste of valuable time."

"Excuse me!?" Furno asked, "A waste of _time_? A waste of _my _time, maybe, but this needs to be addressed!"

"There's nothing _to _address. We want to do this alone, and that's it."

"_You_, want to do this alone." Surge said.

I looked at him, blankly, "Really!?" I asked, annoyed, "I thought we were in this together."

"I… I'm afraid to disobey orders."

"Oh."

"Why aren't you?" Furno asked.

"Well… It's just that I have an idea." I said

"Well what is it? We can all go together." Furno said.

"No, no. I think it would be better if me and Surge did this alone. More people would attract more attention."

"He has a point, Furno." Breez said, "Six people at one place would attract a lot of attention. Especially if they're Heroes."

"You're right. We'll let you follow your lead, but keep in contact, and keep your GPS on."

"But, the frequency could get intercepted! Unless, we use Sequential Frequency Hopper mode on our Hero Pads!"

"That idea's so crazy, it just might work!" Furno said, "But, how do we know if it's synced?

"Hmm… We slave circuit it. When someone presses go, the other would go too."

"But, the villains might find a pattern in it, and might try to intercept them using the same pattern."

"Simple: We just set it to random."

"What if they try to jam us?"

"They can only jam one frequency at a time. And cycling through over a thousand frequencies would also make the jammer to overload if it tries to jam everything."

"What if they-" Furno started.

"If they have their hands on a mass jammer, then we'd be in trouble. But I doubt they'd use it, as they don't want to jam their own frequencies, nor do they want to jam the cell phone frequencies. If they did that, suspicion might arise."

"He has some very good points, Furno. Surely you can see that." Breez said.

"Alright, you can carry out your plan. But keep in contact." Furno said.

"That was our plan all along. Well, not really, but now it is." I said.

Furno chuckled. "Okay, I'll slave circuit the Hero Pads, to get the SFH going."

Furno got that all ready, the signal was strong at some points, weak at others, but it was working. Me and Surge walked to another landing platform, and I jetted underneath to inspect the repulsorlifts.

I'm not gonna do that for recreation, ever.

"It looks like there's a cable that runs under the road." I said to Surge, "Looks like it could be cut with a laser, or a fusion cutter of some sort."

I jetted back on to firm ground.

"We should do a comparison." I said, and we jetted back to where the landing platform used to be.

When we got there, I jetted to where the cable would come out. The edges were melted, and the wires were sparking.

"Yup, I'd say a laser. But I've been wrong before." I said.

"Who do you think did it?"

"Well, a lot of villains have lasers, but I'd say XT4."

A shadow went across Surge's face at the mention of XT4.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"That name…"

"What? What's up with the name?"

"It's probably nothing. How do you know about XT4?"

"I saw him in the villain database. I do my research."

"But why XT4?" Surge asked.

"Because, not all the villains have access to industrial lasers, that cut is very well done. But I'm not sure it _is_ him though."

"I'm gonna contact Furno." Surge said.

"Sure." I replied.

"Furno! There's trouble: XT4 is here!"

"I heard that!" I shouted, "I said he_ might_ be here."

"_Alright_, _Surge, switch it to speaker phone._ _Why do you reckon XT4, Darklite?_" Furno's voice asked through the comm-link, wavering as the signal was switching.

"Because the cut is smooth and precise, with only a few of bits of melted metal scattered here and there. It _looks _like an industrial laser."

"_You might be on to something,_ _Darklite._" Furno said, "_Those are some good observations._"

"Why, thank you, Furno." I said, "This is a shadow of your former self. Well at least for today."

"_You're welcome. And I'm sorry for venting my stress on you guys._"

"It's okay. Happens to the best of us."

"Yup, sure does. Even Darklite does it." Surge said.

"Yeah, I have a few… Anger management issues. But I try to control myself." I said, "But, if an industrial laser can be easily identified, why didn't XT4 use his buzz saw?"

"I can answer that one, because it would've made too much noise." Surge answered.

I snapped my fingers, "Exactly! They wanted to be covert in our demise, so they used the laser instead. But that's a problem. Because industrial lasers are very specific in the way they cut. So it could be easily identified. And which villain, or rather, which lackey, has an industrial laser?"

"XT4!"

"_XT4!_"

They said in unison.

"Correct, you all get extra credit." I said, they all laughed.

"But seriously. If XT4 _is_ here, who's commanding him? He can't do this all by himself."

"_Well… Have you heard of Core Hunter?_" Furno asked.

"Who?" I asked.

"_Didn't think so._"

"WHO IS CORE HUNTER?!" I said, getting frustrated.

"He's a Hero that went rouge." Surge said.

"Oh, like Von Ness?"

"_No! Nothing like Von Ness! He hunts down Heroes, and removes their core. It's terrible. He has his own collection. Not sure why, though._" Furno said.

"Maybe he wants revenge?" I suggested.

"Why would he want revenge? This is a good cause to fight for: The safety of the universe." Surge said.

"Indeed." I said, "So then, XT4 is his lackey?"

"That's right. That's why I was concerned when you said his name."

"Oh! I get it now!" I said, understanding.

"_Glad you do._" Furno said.

"One more question, why were you so stressed, Furno?"

"_I wanted to get Stormer back safely, I owe him a favor._"

"He saved your skin, you save his. Then you'll be even."

"_Exactly, he's been talking to me like I was still a rookie ever since. I wanted to prove something to him._"

"Ah. I understand completely."

"_That's good._"

"Well you two better start looking for Core Hunter. We'll see you later." I said.

"_Alright, I think we'll contact the others too. We might have a better chance if we do this with more than one Hero. Why don't you come?_" Furno said.

"I want to investigate a bit more, if it's all the same to you."

"_Okay, see ya, Darklite."_

"See ya later, Furno." I said.

Surge didn't move.

"Aren't you gonna go with Furno?" I asked.

"Nah, I thought I'd hang out with you." He said.

"Wow! O-okay, sure, you can." I said, surprised, "Honestly, I thought you'd want to help the others."

"Yeah, I thought about it, but I thought I'd stay with you. You're cool, Darklite."

"Well, thank you, Surge. That means a lot to me." I said.

"You're welcome, Darklite. I figured we'd be good friends."

"I think so too. I feel wanted now."

"Well, why didn't you before? I mean, the more Heroes the better."

"Well, I feel wanted amongst the other Heroes, I mean."

"Oh, I get it. So you felt a little lonely?"

"Well, yeah. Considering I'm the social type, it's a pretty lonely life, if others don't want to be your friend."

"I'll tell you this, Darklite. I've never _known_, let alone be friends with an 0.5 Hero."

"Well, what about the ones who got upgraded as the years went by, and the versions got better? I mean, I hear Thresher was an 0.5 at some point."

"That doesn't count." Surge said, smiling.

"Oh, it doesn't, doesn't it?" I said, playfully.

"Nope, it doesn't!"

We laughed, and joked for a while. Then we chatted about previous missions, and close calls.

"Once, while I was fighting Splitface on Sigma-Sigma, he blasted a meteor I was standing on. I thought I'd fly out into space!"

"You caught him in the end, right?"

"Yup! Of course I did."

"Well, my close call was on my first successful mission. There was a prison break in Penitentiary 1331, and the escapee almost managed to evade me. But I caught him in the end."

He then told me about his deepest, darkest secret.

"I think I've been made with a flaw." He started.

"What might that be?" I asked, "This sounds interesting.

"I think… This flaw will make me turn to the side of evil!"

I gasped, "Does anyone know about this?"

"Furno, Zib and Breez do. Zib tells me it's nothing to worry about, because he detected no such flaw, but I'm still not convinced."

"Are you afraid about that?"

"You bet! Sometimes I have nightmares of me sitting next to Von Nebula, clad in a black version of my 1.0 armor."

"Yikes! That must be terrible."

"Yeah they sure were. They've been gone since, but I'm afraid they'll pop up again."

"Listen, I'll be here for you. I promise, I'll do anything in my power to prevent it. I swear," I put my hand on my Core, "If my Core still glows, I will prevent it. Short of… well…"

"Taking me down?"

"Yeah, I couldn't do that if even I wanted to."

"Even if you were a villain?"

I had to think about that for a few moments.

"No… I say that because I will not become a villain."

"How do you know?"

"I'll be so busy trying to prevent you from becoming one, that I won't have enough time!" I joked.

We all laughed, and we started light heartedly chatting away.

It was about 6:32, Trantor time, when we realized something.

"Did you get any messages from Furno?" I asked.

"No, I haven't. Why?"

"Surely they must've round up the villains by now."

"Maybe they've been delayed." Surge suggested.

"Yeah maybe… Or worse! I'll try to contact him."

I clicked Furno's icon on the Hero Pad. I tried to contact him, but there was no response.

"Something's wrong." I said.

"How do you know they're not in a delicate situation?"

"I don't, but…"

"What is it?"

"The GPS Signals! The Sequential Frequency Hopper! I think I can locate Furno's Hero Pad!" I managed to get a lock on the GPS position, "There it is! Come on!"

TBC

**Authors note: Just to clarify, I pronounce 0.5 and 1.0, 2.0 etc, as oh point five, and one point oh, two point oh, etc.**


	10. Chapter 6 Aerotropolis - Part 3

**Author's**** note: A sub genre for this story would be friendship. Why? Read the chapter and find out ;)**

* * *

After a few minutes of following the blinking circle, we arrived in a backstreet, with Furno's Hero Pad lying on the ground, some of the red armor casing chipped off.

"Wow, what ever made the armor get chipped would be a mighty powerful weapon." I said, examining it, "Look, Surge. It even has some wiring exposed. Remember when I dropped mine off the top of the Hero Factory tower? It fell like 2500 feet, or something like that, and it was still in one piece."

"Actually it was 2.5 kilometers."

"Whoa! That's high!"

"Yeah, but that's nothing compared to how they test them."

Surge was right. To test their durability, the technicians stand on top of the highest building on Coruscaunt***** and drop it down, onto the lowest level. The worst damage any Hero Pad ever suffered was a cracked screen, and that's because it landed funny. They found that out on the high speed camera.

I noticed a gash along a wall. I picked up the Hero Pad, and pressed it against the gash. It fit inside.

"It must've been chucked against this wall." I said.

"Yikes! That's a large gash!" Surge exclaimed.

"Yeah it is. Hey, look!" I pointed at a faint reddish smudge on the concrete.

"Ooh. That must be some of the paint… Yup, there's a scratch on this panel."

"I wonder what weapon did this." Surge said.

"Psst!"

"What, Darklite?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Psssst!"

"It's coming from the alley over there." I said.

We walked over to the alley way. The sun was setting behind the building, so it was dark.

"My sensors pick up a heat signature." Surge said, "He might be an organic."

I stopped. "Did you say that with distaste?" I asked.

"N-no, I was just pointing out a fact…"

"It sounded a little distasteful."

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry to me; say you're sorry to the dude over there."

"He didn't hear me!"

"How do you know?"

"I just do! Okay?"

"But _how_?"

"Quit it, you two!" a raspy voice came from the alley, "I don't care if he was saying it with distaste, or not, but it's the truth."

"Oh. What are you then?"

"Does it really matter? *sigh* I'm a human."

"What do you want with us?"

"You wanna find your friends or not?"

"Suits me. What do ya want to say?"

He slapped a data card in my hand.

"Guard that with your life! Don't let them take it!"

"Who's 'them'?" I asked.

"I've said too much already. If they find out about this, it's into the lake with concrete shoes!"

I inhaled through my teeth at that remark. (Wait, what?)

"Sounds like they really want to do whatever it is they want to do."

"The data card explains everything. I can't tell you here, they have eyes everywhere!"

"Then why did you even have the audacity to come here to tell us?" I asked.

"Because…" he looked around for a few seconds, and said in a lower voice, "I know what they're doing, and I know that they have to be stopped."

"But, what are they..? Never mind, the data card."

"I know they know what I'm doing. I'm risking my life to tell you this. Here's hoping they just, you know, lock me up somewhere."

"Okay thanks, Mr.…?" I said.

"Now, I definitely can't tell you that. If they find out for sure who's telling you this, they'll…"

"Throw you in the lake with concrete shoes." I finished.

"Yeah… Or worse. Well, I'd best be getting back. If they find out that I was gone, I'll be in a heap of trouble!"

"And we sure don't want that to happen. Go on, get outta here!" Surge said, smiling.

I thought I caught a flash of a smile on the mysterious man. He saluted us, and ran off.

"Well wasn't that lucky?" Surge asked.

"Sure was." I said, handling the data card, "What mysteries do you contain..?" I said to myself.

"Well, let's find a computer and find out!" Surge said, and ran off.

"Where are you going?" I shouted.

"To an internet café or something! C'mon!"

I put the data card in the satchel on my utility belt, and ran off after Surge.

We made it to an internet café, and Surge asked if we could use one of their computers. The clerk said yes, for two obvious reasons. The first one is the fact that that is what the internet café is for, using computers, and the second is because we were Heroes. She didn't know that I was a Hero until I told her, because my Hero Core isn't exactly obvious.

Surge and I sat down at a monitor, and realized that there was a problem in our plan.

"The terminal is concealed! We can't put the data card in!"

"Yeah, but this ain't an SD card. It's completely different. So I'm willing to doubt that the computers they have here do not have ports for these anyway."

"You're giving up again?"

"Hey! I was never giving up the first time you asked, Surge!"

"Oh yeah."

"But I am thinking of taking a vacation."

"What?! A vacation in the middle of a mission!?"

"Just a short one, you know, to gather out thoughts together, and to plan our attack strategy."

"O-o-oh! That's actually a good idea."

We checked into a hotel, and took a three day vacation. During that time, we used the computer they provided, made us be able to take a look at the data card…

Mission log# 005

They're absolutely crazy! They're planning on stealing Trantor's central AI core!

It's located in Aerotropolis, Trantor's capital, and it sends out information to the other cities, and planets in the Deoberon System.

With the central AI core, Core Hunter…

"See, Core Hunter, my hunch was right!" I said

…will be unstoppable in his evil deeds. He also recruited some villains from the Hero Factory's  
containment unit. Voltix, Corroder, Meltdown, XT4, and Xplode.

"There was another breakout?" Surge asked, "We took care of that, months ago!"

"Apparently, I'd reckon quieter too." I said

"Yeah, I'll bet."

"Wait Surge, read this."

They also hijacked a shipment of FEDs to help guard the housing area so if anybody were to come and try and foil his scheme, they'd be dispatched quickly.

"This was good info; it will help in our plan."

And set up attack strategy…

"Okay, phase one, step one, we ask for directions to the central AI core housing area. Step two, we try and get past the FEDs guarding the entrance, and sneak into the housing area. Phase two, step one, we hide until they've got the core out of the housing unit. Step two, we jump out and attack."

"But we have to make sure that we don't hit the core. It's very delicate."

"Oh yeah, of course. Good thinking, Surge."

"Not a problem."

We checked out of the hotel, and asked a tour guide if he knew the directions to the housing area. He usually doesn't give out directions to there, but since we were Heroes on a mission, he made us an exception.

Several hours later, we walked to the entrance to the housing area, and Floater Enforcer Drones were swarming around the general area. We had to be careful not to alert them or its game over for us.

"Remember the plan, Surge?"

"Sure do!"

"Remember: Keep quiet."

We snuck past a swarm of FEDs, but soon realized that there were too many to handle. If we continued on, we would be spotted.

"I have an idea." I said, picking up a stone from the ground, "I'll throw this into the bushes, and they'll all swarm to that spot." I did, and, like I said, they swarmed around a bush, giving us a window to sneak in undetected.

We went through a round tunnel, and into a large room, with a large three sided pyramid in the center. On one side was a big wheel, spinning at high velocity. My guess is it helps regulate power, or data or something. On another side were nine lights and a monitor. And on the last side, were a lot of cables, five to be exact, and a reset button. Not for the AI core, but for the power regulation.

Surge whistled at the sight, "Wow, that thing's big!"

"Yeah, it is." I spotted a hanging walkway above us, and some crates to hide behind, "Let's go up there. We can get a good view of the entire chamber."

"Good idea." Surge said.

We climbed up, and, as I thought, we had a clear 270 degree view.

A few villains came out, and among them, one that looked like a Hero.

"That's Core Hunter." Surge pointed out, "It's best if we stay away from him."

I nodded, and then a huge crane claw lowered itself down from the ceiling.

"Look who's manning the crane!" Surge exclaimed, quietly.

It was Corroder. And he was concentrating hard on the task at hand.

"Now?" Surge asked.

I held up a finger, telling him to wait a moment. The claw lowered to just above the AI module.

"Now, Corroder, be careful!" Someone shouted, I recognized the voice from my training as Xplode's, "That central AI module is ve-e-ery delicate."

"Yes, yes, I know." Corroder said, "I'm taking it slow from here on out."

"Now?" Surge repeated.

"No, not yet. A little bit longer." I whispered.

The claw clasped the AI module. It lifted it up a little and turned it. It then let go, to get a better grip on it.

"Now?" Surge said again.

I waited a second, then two, then three. The AI module was carefully lifted out of the housing.

I could tell Surge was getting restless. He started drumming his fingers on the top of a crate.

A minute passed.

The AI core was lowered to the floor. The bottom touched the clean rubber mat that they set out earlier.

"Now?" Surge said, one last time.

…

"Now!"

TBC, nope just kidding.

We jumped off the platform, our weapons drawn, taking the villains by surprise.

"What in the world?!" Xplode exclaimed.

"Surprise!" we shouted.

"Take you off guard?" Surge asked, smugly.

"Xplode, Meltdown! I thought you said you caught the _all _the Heroes!" Core Hunter shouted.

"Well, uh, we thought we did." Xplode said.

"Turns out we missed a few." Meltdown added.

In the moment of confusion, we made our way up to the crane cabin, but Corroder was waiting for us.

"Hello, Heroes, so nice of you to *chuckle* DROP IN!" he said, laughing maniacally.

I quickly took out my Breakout style Hero-Cuffs, and chucked them at Corroder, but he was expecting that. He squirted acid at the cuffs, and they dissolved into a thick sludge.

"Nice try, Hero! But you… I've never seen you before. And that building style isn't the right one."

I shrugged, "I'm an older model."

"Wouldn't you have gotten upgraded?" he asked.

"I'm new."

"Now you're just talking gibberish! What do you mean?"

"He means that he's old in model, but new in age." Surge said

"Meaning?" Corroder asked, clearly still confused

Surge let out an exasperated sigh, "Hero be old make, but he be young. He be made three weeks ago."

"Alright, alright, you don't have to exaggerate. What version are you?" Corroder said, expressing sincere curiosity

"0.5. Pretty old version, huh?" I said.

"The ones with the brain problem? I've heard of those."

"Yeah, those. But I don't have that problem for some reason."

"Intriguing…"

"You know, with all this small talk, I could've cuffed you by now." I said.

"Yes, I know. But you can't, because I dissolved your Hero-Cuffs."

"Yeah, shame." I said, drawing my Droideka blaster.

"Did that just happen?" Corroder said, sticking his claws up.

"Sure did." Surge said, cuffing Corroder, with the old Hero-Cuffs.

"Well done, I must admit. But you have forgotten one thing…"

"Yeah, took care of that, already." I said, in my hand were the two pipes that sent the acid from his tanks to the nozzles, "Also took the liberty of draining the tanks."

"Where did you put the acid, then?"

"I put it into an alkali, of course, NaOH."

"Sodium hydroxide…" Corroder said, thoughtfully, "Where did you get it?"

"At the hardware store of course. When I saw your name in a confidential log that an anonymous tip gave us, I knew we had to be prepared. They sell it by the bucketful."

"Wait, confidential log? Anonymous tip? I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!"

"Who's him?" I asked.

"A human worker we hired to help us. I think his name was Karary*****, or something like that."

"Thanks, Corroder."

"No problem." He said, half-heartedly.

Xplode, Meltdown and Core Hunter were still arguing when we made our way down. I broke up the fight with a blast from my Droideka blaster.

"While you guys were arguing we just captured Corroder." I said.

All their jaws dropped, and I assumed Core Hunters did too, but I couldn't see behind his helmet.

"We have him in our older power-draining Hero-Cuffs. He won't be going anywhere until we take him back." Surge added.

"You tricked us!" Xplode exclaimed.

"We sure did. I didn't plan on that argument though. It just simplified a lot of things." I said.

"Unfortunately, I still have the upper hand." Core Hunter said, pressing a button on a remote.

Immediately, the crane sprang into life, and headed right towards me! Surge lunged toward me, and knocked me out of the way, the claw grabbing him instead.

"I was aiming for the newbie, but a pro would suffice." Core Hunter said.

"I still have a lot more to learn, you know."

"Indeed. Here's a lesson for you now, you should always let the rookies fend for themselves."

"I've always said to help rookies, not to treat them like they're inferior!" Surge retorted.

I just realized what happened. Surge had potentially saved my life, like a true friend. We had barely even known each other a day and he'd gone out of his way to help me. I felt a twinge of anger inside of me. It grew.

"Let him go!" I shouted.

Core Hunter turned, "Well, well, well, aren't you a bold rookie. Do you surrender?"

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" I said

"We'll never surrender!" Surge added.

"Well then, I don't suppose you'd mind if I hook your friend, Surge up to the processing unit."

At first I thought, _Yeah, that's a laugh._ But then I realized that that amount of information going through Surges brain at once just might…

"No! Don't! I surrender!" I shouted, in a fit of panic infused anger.

"I'll never surrender!" Surge boldly stated.

"Surge!" I shouted.

"Keep out of this, rookie! Its Surge's decision and Surge's decision alone. Do you surrender?"

"No! I will not surrender!"

"Fine then." Core Hunter said, and pushed another button on the remote. The crane started moving towards the AI core socket.

I couldn't contain it anymore. I charged towards Core Hunter, in a fit of rage, but I was stopped by Xplode.

"My, my, you _are_ a bold one, rookie." Core Hunter said. I could imagine a sinister smile under that wretched helmet of his.

I grunted and growled, but Xplode kept me firmly held back.

"My name is Darklite Slizer, and I could do some serious damage to you, Core Hunter!" I said, through gritted teeth, "Tell Xplode to let me go and I'll prove it to you."

"Well then, _Slizer_, how do I know you won't run away, and abandon your friend?"

"Because, I'm a bigger person than that."

"Darklite, if you were a bigger person, you wouldn't attack Core Hunter through anger! Heroes always want to find the most peaceful solution before attacking, unless they're being attacked first." Surge said.

I wanted to ignore him, but Surge was right. Reluctantly, I gave up.

"Any other day, Core Hunter!" I said, but that was only half true. When Surge said what he said, I knew that attacking through anger wasn't the right thing to do.

The crane lowered him down, and Meltdown hooked Surge up to the processing unit. I couldn't watch, but somehow, I had to share my friend's suffering.

"Anylizing_replacement_AI." The processing unit's artificial voice said.

The suspense was nerve-racking, but what the voice said next startled me.

"Firmware_unsupported. Rejechnting_replacement_AI."

Everyone's jaw dropped again, including mine, and I definitely think that Core Hunter's did this time.

"What?!" Core Hunter shouted.

"Phew, that was a close one." Surge said, but for some reason, I thought he was faking his relief.

This was my chance! I carefully picked up one of the grenades from my utility belt, and dropped it. The resulting explosion distracted everyone long enough for me to rush past Core Hunter, and jump up onto the crane claw, to free Surge.

"You knew all the time that it wouldn't work, didn't you?" I said, smiling.

Surge laughed, "Yup! That's right. Me and Zib have been through so many scans of me, that I know my firmware like the back of my hand."

"Ahh, to make sure you didn't have any defects."

"That's right. Zib said if there were any, he couldn't find them. He also suggested they'd be in my Core, if the defect existed."

I smiled, "Well let's go round up some baddies!" I said, and we both drew out our weapons as soon as the dust settled.

"Surprise!" We both shouted, for the second time that night.

We took them by surprise again, and, with our weapons blazing, we all had them cuffed in under half an hour.

I walked up to the crane cabin, where Corroder was still sitting there, looking rather tired.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Corroder." I said, chuckling.

"No problem." Corroder said, resentfully.

"We have to get the AI core back into its housing, or the whole Deoberon system will have a major internet outage!" Surge said.

"And Aerotropolis would be dark tonight, due to lack of power. The AI core regulates power throughout the city, and it gets none if it isn't working."

Surge sat down in the chair in front of the controls. He carefully maneuvered the crane over the AI core.

"Careful, Surge." I said, quietly.

With almost laser-like precision, Surge had put the AI core back into its housing.

The whole city lit up. It was absolutely spectacular. The citizens of Aerotropolis cheered when the power came back on.

"Yeahaa! Woohooo! We did it!" We cheered. We gave each other a high-five.

"Yeah, woohoo." Corroder said, sarcastically.

I laughed. Of course _he_ didn't care. But he was on the side of evil. But we were happy we managed to save the city, Trantor, and the whole Deoberon System from these villains.

We went down off the walkway, and took a look at the villains we captured.

"Well done, Heroes, but you will _never_ catch me!" Core Hunter said.

"But we just did." I began, but Core Hunter looked at me, and then slumped. His eyes stopped glowing.

"Is he..?" I began.

"No, I should've expected that that coward Core Hunter would do this. See? It's only a remote controlled copy."

I frowned, but then remembered the public service we performed for the Deoberon System. It made me happy again. Happy that we could do things, like this, to help protect and serve the universe. Happy that we were Heroes. Because, we were, in fact, Heroes.

TBC

* * *

***Author's footnote: I only mentioned Coruscaunt; it does not belong in LEGO/Star Wars crossovers.**

*******Authors's footnote #2: Pronounce it Kuh-Rar-Ree.**


	11. Chapter 7: Aerotropolis - Epilogue

The central AI hummed as it processed data, regulated power, and managed the server for the Deoberon System's internet connection.

"Thank_you, Heroes." The AI core said, in the same voice as the processing unit's.

"You're very welcome, central AI." I replied, "But the mystery remains…" I began, "Where are the others?"

Something tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around casually to see the same crane claw Surge was trapped in. I yelped and leaped backwards.

"Do_not_be_frightened. I_know_where_the_other_Heroes_are." The crane claw pointed to a large door that Surge and I never noticed before.

"Oh, thanks, central AI."

"You_are_welcome. May_I_have_your_names_to_send_to_the_newspaper?"

"Sure, I'm Darklite Slizer…" I started.

"…And I'm Mark Surge." Surge finished.

"Thank_you_again, Heroes_Darklite_and_Mark."

"Actually, it's Surge, if you want to be friendly," he said, "and thank _you_ for telling us where the others are."

"You_are_welcome."

We walked to the door, and then found out we had a problem.

"It's been password protected, see, the input panel is a new addition. And I'd reckon only Core Hunter knew the password."

"We could ask the others." I suggested.

"You really want to stupe that low?" Surge asked.

"Yes." I replied.

He stared at me blankly. And, reluctantly, he asked Xplode if he knew the password.

"Sorry, Heroes," he began, "only Core Hunter knows it." He snickered at our failure.

"Well, there you go." Surge said, defeated.

"How do you know he isn't lying?"

"Because he's smarter than that. He knows that we are the ones in control, so he would be more obliged to tell the truth."

"Good point." I said, thinking, "Maybe I could hotwire it."

"That's a good idea, and all Heroes come equipped with tools, just in case. There should be a screwdriver, and some pliers in your satchel."

I looked, and I found a screwdriver and some pliers. I unscrewed the panel, and cut a few wires. I touched the two cut wires. A spark jumped across the wires, and the door opened.

They were all there, Stormer, Stringer, Bulk, Furno, Breez, Acziome and Jetterre, all sitting in a crowded room, with metal bars across the front.

"Well, it's about time you got here, kid." Stormer said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Stormer, you could show the _least_ amount of gratitude." Furno said, "I'm sorry for his rather ungrateful statement, Darklite."

"Hey, don't worry about it!" I said, "It's just the way he is. He'll get over it sooner or later."

"Well don't just stand there, making small talk, get us out!" Jetterre said, clearly annoyed.

"I dunno, Surge, should we let them out?" I asked, joking.

"Well duh!" Surge said. He tried the latch, and it opened.

"Uh, did you guys know this was unlocked?"

"Well yeah, but it only opens from the outside. Also, the bars are too close together for us to put our hands through." Furno said as they stepped out.

"They did it to taunt us." Acziome added, frowning.

"Grr! Talk about torture! Knowing that the prison door you're behind is _unlocked _but you _still _can't get out!" I said, expressing my frustration.

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Furno said, "We got out, and you guys stopped them. That's good enough for me."

I smiled.

"Alright guys, let's pack up and go home!" Breez said.

"Yeah, let's go! Just one more thing." I said.

"Yeah?" Furno asked for everyone.

"This mission, I can take full credit for, along with Surge, of course."

He gave me a high-five. We all laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose you can!"

As we were conversing, I happened to glance to the left, and noticed a figure on lying on a cot in another cell. It was a human. He was battered and bruised, but he was alive, although unconscious.

He stirred, and then groaned.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

He coughed "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess they had their suspicions. You get captured too?"

"No, we just came here to free the others. No offence, but I would never have noticed you if I hadn't idly glanced over here. If I didn't, you'd probably be in serious trouble."

"Yeah, I'd probably get no medical help." He winced.

'What's your name?"

"Axle. Axle Karary. What's yours?"

"Darklite Slizer. I'm referred to by my first name, because I have an actual family name."

"Oh, really? That's interesting." He winced again, "Could you scan this leg?" he pointed to the left one, "It really hurts."

"Sorry, only X-Rays can do that."

"Oh. Could you get me a doctor then?"

"I suppose…" I said.

"Who've you got there?" Surge asked.

"This is Axle Karary."

"Oh, you're that Karary guy Corroder mentioned?"

"The guy suspected something of me from the start. He knew that I was a 'goody two-shoes', and might rat them out."

"But you didn't until you knew the time was right."

"Exactly. I could've squealed from the start and stopped them before their plan went into high-gear, but if they got caught in the act, they would've had evidence. But when you guys came along, I knew that there was a better chance."

"Well, I'm glad you could give us that tip. You risked your life to help us stop them, you know."

"I acknowledge that, and I'd, not gladly however, do it again." He chuckled, and then winced in pain again, "I'd reeeeaaally like to see the doctor now."

I smiled and nodded, "You mind if I carry you in a fireman's lift?" I asked.

"Hey! Only firemen are supposed to use that!" Axle joked, "Whatever will get me to the doctor's."

I carried him to the doctor's office, to get an X-Ray. He then told me to take him to the hospital.

"How bad is it, Doc?" I asked.

"Well, he's had a slight concussion, and a lot of his bones in his left leg are fractured. It's not too serious, he just needs to get that leg healed."

"I see… Well, not really. Except the part about the leg needing to be healed."

"Well, I don't expect you to completely understand, Mr. Slizer, as you are an android."

"More than an android," I said, "One of the most technologically advanced androids."

"Yes, yes, I know." The doctor said, implying that he heard this before, "I also know how to fix you guys. But not your specific version."

"Kinda figured, I'm an older model, but I was only made like a month or so ago."

"Is that so? Very interesting…" the doctor snapped his fingers, "You're one of those one's made by an outside developer, right?"

"You got it, doc. Mr. Makuro is very interested in me. I don't know why, though. I'm just an ordinary Hero, mostly. Except for my Static Input Arrays."

"SIAs are hard to come by, unless you know the right people. Do you know your developer?"

"Just his name. That's it."

"I see. It seems your developer doesn't want to be recognized. Maybe, if you're trying to find him, you should respect that and abort your hunt."

"Perhaps, but I want to know. I'm just that type."

"I see, there are no pills I can prescribe to help OCD."

"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?"

"No, Obsessive Curiosity Disorder." He joked.

I chuckled, but I still wanted answers. And I was determined to find them.

TBC


End file.
